Just Another Romance
by The Golden Gurl
Summary: Chapter 2 now up! Things get even more complicated once Kay and Simone's stepsister, Lindy Crane enters the picture! Contains language. R&R!
1. Complicated Relatives

1_Disclaimer: I do not own Passions or any characters associated with it, because if I did, Fox would be with Theresa, Sam and Grace would be divorced, TC and Eve would be divorced, Gwen would be with Hank, and John and Simone would be together still._

_Author's note: Hi, my name is Danielle and this is my first ever fanfic. (So please bear with me.) I am a big fan of Passions. (Although I like Days of our Lives more.) I really don't enjoy the way the storylines are going right now, so I offered my own little twist on things. This story is about the teen crowd, because I feel that they should have a storyline that is not associated with witchcraft. It focuses primarily on John and Simone, but some of the other teens are included. In this story, John really is Grace's son and David really is Grace's first husband. This means that, as a result of Grace's amnesia, she shacked up with another man and had three kids out of wedlock. (Grace, you slut!) Eve is not as innocent as she is on the show and Liz isn't as mean as they portray her. The storyline with Fox being in love with Whitney never happened. Chad and Whitney are not brother and sister. Charity and Miguel are some innocent star-crossed lovers, they are evil, horny people. (Why? Because I just don't like them.) Tabitha is NOT a witch, she is a normal person. Kay is not from the dark side. Maria never existed. (Not that I have anything against her, it just doesn't fit into the story.) Gwen's baby never died, she is alive and well. Oh yeah, Paloma does not hate her family and now lives in Harmony and Reese is not a nerd. There are other changes, but they will be explained in the story. I wrote this story in the style of a cheesy teen movie. (She's All That, Ten Things I Hate About You, etc.) So if you are looking for something very serious with a lot of action, do not read this. This story may also sound very cheesy due to the fact that I was listening to a great deal of bubblegum pop (Britney Spears, Backstreet Boys, that kind of thing) while writing this. This story may also contain some Grace, Charity, and Eve bashing. (Why? Because I just don't like them.) I would like to dedicate this story to my best friend, Rachael, and anyone else who has hoped for a John and Simone pairing._

_Now let's get on with the story. (Finally!)_

Simone Russell yawned and rubbed her eyes. It was really strange. One minute it was pitch black outside, the next second the sun was shining in her face.

_It can't be morning_, she thought to herself. _I just went to sleep._

Simone was right. It was morning. It was a fine summer morning, which meant one thing: shopping!!!!! She put on her robe and slippers and walked downstairs.

"Hello!" she called out, "Daddy! Liz! Jamie!"

There was no answer. Simone went into the kitchen and found a note taped to the refrigerator:

_Took Jamie clothes shopping for Founders Day Dance, running a few more errands,Dad's running errands, Be back in couple of hours._

_Love, Liz_

_P.S. I left you some blueberry pancakes in the fridge. Pop them in the microwave for a couple of seconds and they should taste okay._

_How nice of Liz, _Simone thought to herself, _She was always so thoughtful._

Liz was Simone's stepmother. She was also the younger sister of Simone's mother, Eve, which also made her Simone's aunt. Years ago, she came to live with Simone; Eve; Simone's father, T.C.; and Simone's older sister; Whitney. A couple years later, it was revealed that Eve was having an affair with Julian Crane, the town's biggest womanizer. It was also revealed that Eve and Julian were in love and they shared a son together. T.C. was so upset that Eve would betray him so much that he divorced her. One year after the divorce, he married Liz. Their son James "Jamie" Russell was born not long after that.

As for Simone's mother, Eve, she later married Julian Crane. Not only did Simone find herself with two new half brothers, but a ton of stepbrothers and stepsisters as a result. Julian had a son named Trevor by Eve years ago. Trevor was now in his early thirties and lived in New York City where he acted on Broadway. Then Julian had married Ivy Winthrop and produced three more kids: Nicholas (a.k.a "Fox"), Alyssa, and Melinda (a.k.a. "Lindy"). After twenty five years of marriage, Julian and Ivy got divorced. Ivy went on to marry Sam Bennett, the chief of police and father of Simone's best friend, Kay. (Sam and Ivy used to be together years ago and they had a son named Ethan.) Fox later married Theresa Lopez-Fitzgerald, adopted her son, Ethan, (whose father was Julian, making him Fox's half brother) and moved to Mexico. Alyssa married Sam Bennett's son, Noah (making her Kay's stepsister and sister in law) and moved to Virginia. Lindy was the same age as Kay and Simone, went to the same college as them, and pretty much irritated them. Julian then had a daughter named Endora with Kay's next door neighbor, Tabitha. Endora was now seven years old and lived across the street with her mother. Simone's older sister, Whitney married Chad Harris and moved to Los Angeles to pursue a singing career.

And here was Simone, a student at Harmony Community College, living at home peacefully with her father, her stepmother, and her six year old half brother.

And she had no boyfriend.

Not that she cared. I mean, it wasn't that important, was it? Just because her sister and almost all of step siblings all had someone didn't mean anything.

Or did it?

Almost all of her friends had boyfriends. Kay used to have one until he left her for her cousin. Paloma Lopez-Fitzgerald had a boyfriend named Roberto who lived in Mexico. Kay's younger sister, Jessica, had a boyfriend named Reese.

It's not like Simone had never had a boyfriend. She used to date Chad Harris until he fell in love with Whitney. Then he dumped her. After that, Simone convinced herself that she didn't need a man to make her happy.

Then why did she feel this emptiness inside of her?

_Oh well_, she thought to herself as she ate her breakfast, _It doesn't matter anyway_. Simone finished her breakfast and then cleared her plate. She then went up to her room and looked for what to wear for the day. She later decided on a white strapless tube top with a ruffled collar, a jean mini skirt, and a pair of black sandals.

"I think I will take the girls shopping for the day." Simone said to herself as she put on her silver hoop earrings, "Yeah, that should keep me busy."

She grabbed her car keys and left the house.

"Are you sure if it's cool that I stay here?" asked John Hastings as he unpacked his suitcase.

"Of course, it is." replied Kay, "Ivy and my dad said you were always welcome."

"I know, it just feels strange."

"It shouldn't feel strange, John. We are family."

John looked at his half sister and smiled, "Yeah, I guess you're right, Kay."

It was really strange. Most of John's life, he thought that he was an only child, but now he had two half sisters and a half brother.

John was born in Boston years ago. His parents, Grace and David, were happily married until one night his mother walked on his father after an argument. He was just two months old at the time and Grace just left him. One night Grace was in a terrible accident and got amnesia. She later fell in love with Sam Bennett and married him. (Not realizing that she was still married to David.) She then gave birth to three kids, Noah, Kay, and Jessica. Because of this, John lived fourteen years without a mother. By the time John was fifteen, David, who was still in love with Grace, found Grace on the internet and went to go visit her and her family. Grace later remembered everything and then left to go live with David. (John, because his dad's job as a photojournalist took him around the world, went to a boarding school in Italy.) John was happy that he got his mother back. His happiness was short-lived though, because Grace decided to travel around the world with David, making John feel like an orphan. After John graduated high school, he tried to travel around with his parents, but he felt like an outsider. So John decided to move to Harmony and live with his half sisters, Kay and Jessica; their father, Sam; and their stepmother, Ivy.

"Plus, it's not like it's your fault that your mother abandoned you." said Kay.

"I just had nowhere else to go. It was either this or Aunt Faith's house."

"Oh, Aunt Faith moved away."

"When?"

"About a year ago. She and our harlot cousin, Charity, moved to Florida along with my ex-boyfriend, Miguel."

"That's right, her daughter stole your boyfriend, I forgot. I'm sorry."

"That's okay, I try to forget about that."

"Hey, guys." said a voice.

John and Kay turned around to see Jessica standing in the doorway.

"Hey, Jess." said Kay, "What's up?"

"Ivy is driving me crazy!!!!" replied Jessica, "She is going on this cleaning kick just because Ethan and the kids are coming in a week."

"Why is he bringing the kids? I thought Gwen had custody of Sarah and Tyler isn't even Ethan's kid, he's Uncle Hank's kid."

"Because Gwen and Uncle Hank are on their second honeymoon in Paris, so they left the kids with Ethan."

"So Gwen and Uncle Hank aren't coming?"

"Nope."

"Would someone mind explaining?" asked John.

"Oh sorry, John." replied Jessica, "The Founder's Day Dance is in a week. It is the biggest event in town and people who were born in or used to live in Harmony often come back to town for it. So Ethan is coming and he's bringing his daughter and my niece, Sarah, who's seven and then there's Tyler....."

"Your nephew?" interrupted John.

"No, actually Tyler's our cousin, because Ethan's ex-wife, Gwen, married our Uncle Hank and had Tyler. He's five, I think." said Kay.

"Um...okay. Your's family's confusing, but I guess I will get the hang of it."

"Yeah, luckily Noah -that's my other brother and your half brother- and Alyssa -she's his wife and our stepsister cuz she's Ivy's daughter- are staying at a hotel."

"Yeah and you don't have to give up your room, either John, cuz Ethan is staying on the couch, and Tyler and Sarah are sleeping in the guest room." said Jessica.

"Um...okay." replied John, still a little confused.

"Oh yeah, by the way, Kay, Simone's here." said Jessica, "She wants to know if you want to go shopping."

"Oh okay! That sounds like fun!" said Kay, "Are you sure you will be okay, John?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine." said John. "Who's Simone?"

"Don't you remember? She lives across the street. You met her a couple of years ago when you came for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Her dad and my dad have been best friends since they were kids."

"Oh yes, of course."

"Well, we better go. See you later, half-bro!" said Jessica as she and Kay went downstairs.

"Bye!" called John.

John watched out the window as Kay and Jessica walked to the car. He looked at the girl with them. She was tall, thin, and had some of the waviest, chestnut-brown hair he had ever seen.

_Oh my god, _he thought to himself, _That's her._

He now remembered. Simone, the girl he had met at Thanksgiving, the girl who lived across the street.

The only girl who made him go crazier than a crack whore in a mental institution, locked in a padded cell, wearing a straitjacket.

_Oh no, _he thought again, _She's wearing a mini skirt. Why does she have to look so hot in a mini skirt?_

_Maybe I should stay here. Yeah I will stay here. As long as she's here._

John took a deep breath and then made another decision.

He decided to take a cold shower.


	2. Here Comes the Bitch

_Ok, this is chapter 2. (Yeah!!!!) I don't know whether or not I will have this story finished. I hope to finish it soon, but I start school on the 30th. I am a sophomore in college and you know how that is_. _I would like to thank those who have given me positive reviews, I really appreciate it._

_So without further ado, here is chapter 2, which is entitled: Here Comes the Bitch._

_Disclaimer: I do not own any of the soap opera characters in this story._

After they left the Bennetts' house, Kay, Jessica, and Simone headed over to pick up their other good friend, Paloma Lopez-Fitzgerald, who lived just down the street. When Paloma was young, she was sent to Mexico City to live with her aunt, father, and stepmother. Her parents had been through a nasty divorce and her mother thought that her father should raise at least one of his kids. Paloma grew up in Mexico City and then moved to the states after she graduated from high school. Her parents both agreed that she would have better educational opportunities in America than in Mexico. Paloma still went to back occasionally to Mexico City to visit her family and her boyfriend, Roberto. She, like Simone, Kay, and Jessica, also had some connections to the Crane family. Her older brother, Luis, married Julian Crane's younger sister, Sheridan; her older sister, Theresa married Julian's son, Fox; and her father was married to Julian's mother, Katherine.

"Hola, amigos!" exclaimed Paloma as she climbed into Simone's car. "Coma esta?"

"English please?" asked Simone, completely confused, "I failed Spanish in high school."

"Yeah, and I took German." added Jessica.

"She said 'Hello, friends! How are you?'" replied Kay.

"How did you know, Kay?" asked Paloma.

"I dated your older brother, Miguel, for two and a half years. I went over to his house everyday after school, so after hanging out with your family for awhile, I picked up a few phrases."

"Oh that's right. He mentioned that once."

"Really? You talked to him?"

"Yeah, he said he moved to Miami Beach with that piece of shit that he calls a girlfriend. His girlfriend's mother teamed up with her friend, Celeste, to form some psychic hotline."

"Oh, I remember Celeste." said Jessica, "She lived in that small town called Salem with her daughter....um....what's her name......"

"Lexie." replied Kay.

"Yeah, that's it. Anyway, we knew them because Lexie's husband, Commander Carver, was an old friend of our father's from the police academy. But Celeste was crazy, always playing with her tarot cards, and talking to spirits. Who would of thought that her daughter would grow up to be a doctor?"

"So are Miguel and his whore coming back for the Founder's Day Dance?" asked Kay.

"Nope. But Mama's all excited because Theresa and Fox are coming. Plus, Roberto's flying in with them!!!" said Paloma, excitedly.

"Oh, that's nice." said Simone.

"What's wrong, Simone?" asked Jessica.

"Nothing."

"You don't have a date, either huh?" asked Kay.

"Yeah, I don't have one, but I am not gonna let it bother me."

"Well, look at it this way. Lindy probably doesn't have one."

"Kay, Lindy is a Crane. She has her pick of any guy she wants. Plus if she can't find anybody, she can easily bribe somebody."

"You have a point there."

John stepped out of the shower and threw some clothes on. 

_I will not think about her, _he thought to himself, _I will not think about her. I will think about something else. How about those Mets? No they suck. The Yankees rule!!! But Simone rules even more....Oh no I am doing it again!!!!_

The doorbell interrupted his thoughts.

"John!" called Ivy, "Could you get that please?"

"Okay!" he called back.

John went to the door and opened it. "Oh it's you." he said.

"Now Johnny, is that anyway to greet your oldest and dearest friend?" asked Lindy Crane.

"Oh I'm sorry, Lindy. It's good to see you."

Lindy Crane was an old friend of John's that he had met in boarding school. Both John and Lindy had felt like they were abandoned by their families, so they had a little bit in common. Together they formed a friendship, which had blossomed into a romance. (The romance wilted away pretty quickly.) Now John and Lindy were just friends, although Lindy sometimes annoyed John with her snobbiness.

"Aren't you going to invite me in?" asked Lindy in her usual snotty tone.

"Yeah, sure. Come in."

Lindy walked over to the couch and sat down with John.

"So what's new, Lindy?" John asked.

"My nose." she replied, pointing to her face, "You like?"

"You bought a nose?"

"Well, I got a nose job, of course. It's like a rite of passage. Rebecca Hotchkiss, my ex-stepmother, got hers done for the first time when she was about my age. My older sister, Alyssa, never got her nose done cuz she thought she was beautiful the way she was. Well actually, her barbaric husband told her that, but he probably told her that cuz he's her husband and if he insulted her, she would probably leave him and take her money cuz I am sure Grandfather made him sign a prenuptial agreement."

"You know Alyssa's married to my brother, right?"

"Yeah, well, it's not your fault that you are related to that half-witted imbecile, Johnny, now is it?"

"No, it's not. So, what else have you been up to?"

"My father and his third wife, Eve, are in New York, visiting my half-brother, Trevor, their love child. So I've been staying with random people. I went to stay with Auntie Sheridan, but she completely ignored me; plus it was too crowded. Her and her taco-eating husband, have a seven year old son, a two year old son, and a newborn daughter."

"Well maybe Sheridan was too busy taking care of her kids to spend a lot of time with you."

"Well, she doesn't have to take care of her kids. They have nannies for that. Plus, Martin, the oldest, should be in boarding school by now."

"So where are you staying now?"

"I was staying with Rebecca. I like her so much better than my latest stepmother, Eve. What a freak! Anyways, Rebecca went to a spa retreat in the Caribbean to get her new Botox treatment for the Founder's Day Dance. She'll be gone for a couple of days."

"Oh."

"I can't stay with Fox because I can't stand his wife. She was so mean to Rebecca! Plus, their kid gets on my last nerve. I am not staying with Alyssa and her peasant husband because they live in a ranch house out in the country, which I don't mind, but they don't have enough room and they expected me, Melinda Francesca Crane, to sleep on some ridiculous thing called a futon!!!! As if!!! So I went back to stay in the mansion. After all, I am over eighteen and perfectly capable of being home alone. Although, I am not really alone, I have servants, but they don't count, of course."

"Um...okay.... you wanna go to the mall?"

"The mall? The cheap discount mall?"

"Well, it's not really that cheap...."

"It is not Fifth Avenue!!!!"

"Yeah, but......."

"No buts, Johnny!!!! Can you imagine what would happen if they saw me, a Crane, shopping at a discount mall??? Can you imagine what kind of rumors that might start??!!!"

"Oh hello, Melinda." said Ivy, coming into the room, "How are you, dear?"

"Don't try any of that 'mommy dearest' bull on me!!! You never gave a shit how I was!!! All you cared about was Ethan, your stupid bastard kid with your blue collar lover!!!"

"Lindy, sweetie, not today....."

"Then you go and leave Father to shack up in suburbia!! You got the whole damned family on some kind of a middle-class kick!!!"

"I don't know what you are talking about...."

"You know absolutely damn well what I'm talking about!!! You go and shack up with the police chief, then Auntie Sheridan hooks up with the maid's son, Fox marries the maid's daughter, and now Alyssa goes out in the wilderness with that Bennett bum!!!"

"I don't need this today, Lindy, I really don't."

Ivy then left the room.

"Come on, Johnny, let's go to the mall." said Lindy, turning her nose in the air.

"But I thought you said...."

"Forget what I said!!! I just remembered that they just added on a Neiman Marcus store on the first floor."

"Okay. Ivy, Lindy and I are going to the mall!" called John.

"Okay!" called Ivy back.

"I just can't stand my mother." said Lindy as she drove her golden Jaguar convertible down the street, "I swear she likes my stepsisters better than me."

"Kay and Jessica?"

"It's not just them. I have two other stepsisters on my father's side. The oldest one lives in California with her husband. I rarely see her, which is a good thing. The youngest one lives right here in Harmony and pisses me off so freaking much!!!"

"Oh really? What's her name?"

"Um...Stephanie....no, that's not it....Sarah....no, that's my niece......Sydney. Yeah, that's it Sydney."

"Oh that's nice."

"No, she's not. She is very mean and nasty."

"Oh wow. Sounds like a real bitch."

"Yeah, that's her in a nutshell."

"Haven't we done enough shopping today?" asked Paloma. 

"There is no such thing as too much shopping." said Kay with a smile.

"Plus, we haven't got Simone's dress yet." put in Jessica.

"I don't need a dress. I've got plenty in my own closet." replied Simone.

"Still bummed about not having a date?" asked Kay.

"I don't care."

"Well, too bad because I know who you could go to the dance with."

"Who?"

"My half-brother, John."

"Yeah, that's a great idea, Kay." said Jessica.

"Who's John?" asked Paloma.

"My mother's son from her first marriage. He's only a couple years older than Simone and me. Anyway, he just came into town last night and he's staying with us for awhile. Simone and him met a couple of Thanksgiving and Christmases ago. He went with us on a ski trip and I noticed him checking her out."

"He was not." said Simone.

"Well, he wasn't checking out anyone else." said Jessica, "The only other girls there were Kay, Charity, and me and we are all related to him."

"Please, Simone? Go with him. Do it as a favor to me. Please?" begged Kay.

"Oh all right." said Simone.

"Look, he's over there sitting on that bench. I wonder what's he's doing here." said Jessica.

"Well, let's find out." said Kay.

John sat on the bench. _God, how long can one girl take to buy a dress? _he thought to himself. 

"Hey John." said a voice.

John looked up. There standing in front of him were his sisters, some girl with dark hair, and Simone.

_Oh lord, it's her. Okay, man, remain calm, she's just a girl. A really hot girl, but a girl._

"So how about those Mets?" said John. _You idiot!_

"Well I personally prefer the Red Sox, but the Mets are cool too." said Simone.

"Yeah." said Kay, "You remember Simone, right?"

"Oh yeah....um.....hi." said John.

"We came by to ask you something."

"Oh yeah, what is it?"

"Well, as you know, the Founder's Day Dance is coming up, and Simone doesn't have a date, so we were wondering if you would......"

"Oh look it's my three evil stepsisters." interrupted Lindy as she came out of the store with three bags.

"Stepsisters?" asked John.

"Yeah, Kay, Jessica, and Sydney."

"My name is Simone, for the millionth time!!!!" exclaimed Simone.

"This is your stepsister?" asked John.

"Yeah, the one I was telling you about." said Lindy, "The one you called a real bitch."

"You said what???!!!!" asked Simone angrily, fists clenched.

_A/N: So that's chapter 2. Sorry if it was too long. I was just on a roll. For those who don't know, Commander Carver, Lexie, Celeste are all characters on Days of our Lives. I thought it would be funny to put them in here. I better go now and work on chapter 3, One Wild Crane Party Night. It should be up in about a week. Bye! _


End file.
